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Even after multiple rewrites, it’s likely to be a tough battle for the Marketplace Fairness Act, a bipartisan proposal that could help states ensure they’re receiving their sales-tax dues when residents purchase products from out-of-state online retailers.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) isn’t supporting the measure in its current form, while the leader of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), is focused almost exclusively on the more intractable fights to come over the federal Tax Code.

Moreover, it could be tough to hitch the bill onto other fast-moving, politically charged packages — especially in the face of anti-tax conservatives like Grover Norquist who are out proselytizing on Capitol Hill that the proposal is a new tax, not an enforcement issue.

Still, supporters stress they can keep their efforts afloat. “We need to fix the problem; it’s a loophole that’s getting bigger and bigger and bigger,” said Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), a key sponsor of the House version of the bill.

To allies, the Marketplace Fairness Act aims to correct a discrepancy in the law that has deprived states of more than $20 billion in revenue each year. That’s why supporters emphasize they’re not angling for a new tax. Rather, they note, some states’ online shoppers are supposed to remit fees on their Web purchases every year, but many buyers aren’t aware of the rules or choose not to abide by them.

After failing repeatedly to enact a law in the previous Congress, sponsors retooled the Marketplace Fairness Act to address some industry criticism and, in the process, harmonized the disparate House and Senate versions of the proposal. The new bill exempts a larger category of small businesses from any tax, and it gives states more wiggle room to implement new rules and determine the means of collection.

However, some key lawmakers in both chambers and parties aren’t exactly rushing to support the new work product.